We’ve just held an event in Vancouver, encouraging members of the public to ask their candidates what their position is on Canada’s commercial seal hunt.

We had an overwhelming response from people, which was really inspiring. Lots of people were thanking us for being there , and they were really happy to have the opportunity to take action on an issue that they care  deeply about. I particularly remember speaking to a businessman who said that he often gets asked about the seal hunt when on business in Europe (how sad that people think of that when they think of Canada). I was also very touched by one of our supporters, who, despite a twisted ankle, has been really working hard to distribute our posters and information about our campaign, in advance of the elections.  Thank you to all our supporters who have helped us raise the issue of Canada's commercial seal hunt with their local candidates.

Although polling shows that the majority of Canadians are opposed to Canada’s commercial seal hunt, the hunt continues to receive support from all major political parties in Canada. IFAW Canada is working to change this, by conducting ridings-based political campaigns in strategic parts of the country.

After successfully getting the commercial seal hunt on the agenda of candidates in the Vancouver Quadra by-election last March, IFAW Canada turned its attention to other summer by-elections. Our efforts in selected electoral ridings have included phone banks, DVD drops to selected households, public opinion polling, door-to-door canvassing, leafleting, putting up posters, holding rallies and asking seal hunt questions at all-candidates debates, and tabling events to distribute action cards. Our goal is to raise awareness about Canada’s commercial seal hunt and encourage voters to contact each of their candidates and ask them where they stand on this important issue.

We are pleased to report some significant steps in our campaign. In Guelph, Ontario, Liberal party candidate Frank Valeriote, spoke out publicly against the commercial seal hunt in a recent debate. Frank joins Mike Nagy, candidate for the Green Party of Canada, in opposing this hunt. While we are still waiting to hear the position of some candidates, it’s exciting to finally see the commercial seal hunt as an issue being taken seriously by candidates during an election.

Now that a general election has been called in Canada, we are working tirelessly to remind even more aspiring Members of Parliament that Canada’s commercial seal hunt is not only inhumane and unnecessary, but that it is opposed by a clear majority of Canadians. Our public opinion polling tells us that Canadians also object to their hard-earned tax dollars being used by the government to finance this wasteful industry. It’s time for Canadian politicians to start paying attention to the wishes of their voters, and commit to ending Canada’s commercial seal hunt, and work instead towards finding sustainable employment alternatives for those involved.

The latest good news is that the European Commission reacted by adopting a proposal to ban most trade in seal products within the European Union. If this ban goes into effect, the seal hunters of Canada will lose a big chunk of their market. We're talking death knell here, but we should be guardedly optimistic about this ban. It ain't over until its over.

At "EcoWorldly," Levi Novey writes:

This proposed ban is no small deal. Even International Rock God Paul McCartney has publicly stated he is an advocate of the ban, and that Canada’s seal hunt is a “stain” on Canada. He made these remarks several weeks prior to playing at a concert in Canada that took places several days ago.
...
Canada’s government has subsequently reacted with anger to the European Union’s proposal, saying that they will impose trade sanctions on the EU if the proposed ban passes muster and becomes law... This past September, Canada also made a complaint to the World Trade Organization. The Netherlands and Belgium have banned seal products and Canada claims that these bans break trade laws.
...
CNN writes that "the ban recommends a certificate and labels be provided by countries exporting seal products making clear seal products they trade meet strict EU conditions." Hmm... a certificate and label will be needed. Am I the only person that thinks this sounds like a lackluster strategy for ensuring that seals are killed humanely?

Here are some other reactions:

At "Unambiguously Ambidextrous," Raphael Alexander writes:

Another strike from the hot progressive iron. Hunting, the primary human evolutionary prowess next to gathering, is now considered "cruel" and "unnecessary". In one fell and ignorant swoop, the EU casts aspersions on the hunting practices of Canadians and Inuit who have invested hundreds and thousands of years in careful and meticulous perfection of their craft. Although the EU has said it would make "special allowances" on traditional Inuit sealers, it has yet to explain what a European standard for humane killing would entail. Not that it likely matters to those pressuring the EU, namely the animal rights activists who call it "cruel, unsustainable and unnecessary".

At "Bond Papers," Edward G. Hollett writes:

In response to a proposed European ban on seal products owing to the inhumane killing methods, Canadian sealers are considering penning the animals in cages and force feeding them boiled corn meal laced with fat, a practice to which EU legislators can turn a blind eye.

Relax. They aren't. But they should given the Europeans' collective ability to wag their fingers at others while doing as they wish themselves.

And finally, the UK government has come out in support of the proposed EU ban:

The UK has urged the EU to prohibit the import of sealskin products as the only effective way to stop inhumane hunting methods around the world.
Trade Minister Gareth Thomas said: "The UK has pressed hard for a European ban on trade in sealskin products and this proposal is welcome news. "Cruel and inhumane seal hunting is unacceptable ... We will now examine the details of the Commission's plans, to ensure that they can make a real difference."
...
Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells said: "I welcome this proposed ban; we have lobbied in the past to promote EU-wide action and this outcome is an important step forward."

In a long-awaited decision that may have significant consequences for Canadian sealers, the European Union on Wednesday moved to ban imports of products derived from seals that are inhumanely killed.
...
"European politicians are doing for Canadians what our own politicians will not — that is, listen to the majority opposition to this cruel, unsustainable and unnecessary hunt," said Sheryl Fink, an Ontario-based researcher with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

"Proposed seal pelt ban welcomed by animal rights groups," from The National Post

Animal rights groups are applauding a European Commission move to adopt proposals to ban the import of pelts from seals. But they also say the move falls short of what they want to see since it allows exemptions for products obtained from seal hunts that can show seals did not suffer unnecessarily.
...
[Spokeswoman for IFAW in Ottowa] Sheryl Fink said closing the European markets to seal products should give the Canadian government a serious wake-up call. "This proposal shows that the European Commission is concerned about the cruelty inherent in commercial seal hunts, and understands the importance of animal welfare for European citizens," Ms. Fink said. But Ms. Fink said the proposed ban falls short of what IFAW wants to see.

"EU proposes import ban on seal products to protest inhumane hunt," from The Associated Press

The plan announced Wednesday covers hunts worldwide, but focuses on Canada because of claims by anti-hunt campaigners that it is the cruelest. Canadian seal hunters use spiked clubs or hakapiks and rifles to kill seals.
...
The proposal followed a campaign by animal rights groups and wrangling within the European Commission about how far it could go without sparking a complaint to the World Trade Organization by Canada and other hunting nations.

"EU seeks to halt cruelty to seals," from the BBC

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas called for a ban on seal products obtained through "cruel hunting methods", which he called "repugnant".
...
The Commission says it is addressing concerns expressed by the European Parliament and the general public "that seals are being killed and skinned using practices that unnecessarily inflict pain and suffering".

"EU executive moves to limit cruelty of seal hunts," from Reuters

The animal welfare group IFAW welcomed the move, but a spokesman said that anything short of a full ban would be difficult to monitor or enforce.
...
[Environment Commissioner Stavros] Dimas said about a third of the trade in seal products made its way through the 27-state EU en route to their final markets, making EU rules a powerful tool in controlling the trade.

"EU Proposes Partial Ban on Seal Products," from Deutsche Welle

The main target country of the ban is Canada, where hunters slaughtered some 275,000 seals along the Atlantic coast this year.
...
French actress-turned-animal-activist Brigitte Bardot, who has led a campaign against the killing of seals, regretted that "slaughters will continue as long as they are done in a humane way." But Bardot, who has made headlines in the past few years for supporting ultra-right politicians in France, was still happy about the plan ... French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reportedly assured Bardot that "everything would be done" during the French presidency of the European Union to adopt a law banning imports of seal products in the EU.

"Brussels plans to ban seal trading," from Financial Times

“The people of Europe and the European Parliament will accept nothing less than a total ban,” said Neil Parish, a UK Conservative MEP who is president of the Euopean Parliament’s animal welfare group.

"Seal products ban doesn't go far enough," from The Edinburgh Evening News

Lothians-based Labour Euro-MP David Martin has warned European plans for a trade ban on seal products do not go far enough. And he said only a complete ban would satisfy the people of Europe. Mr Martin, Scotland's longest serving Euro-MP and a former animal rights campaigner, said “ ... I am pleased that the European Commission has at long last come forward with proposals for a ban in the trade in seal products. However, the proposals do not go far enough and are open to abuse...”
...
He said a recent opinion poll in Canada found an overwhelming majority – 86 per cent – of Canadians said the EU should be allowed to restrict trade in seal products. Mr Martin said: "Let there be no more blood on the ice – only a complete ban will do.”

"N.S. fisheries minister says he'd like to see province's grey seal hunt expanded," from The Canadian Press

A day after the European Union introduced a proposal to ban the import of seal products, Nova Scotia's fisheries minister says he'd like to see the hunt expanded in his province. Ron Chisholm says he believes Canada's hunting methods are humane and he supports any effort by Ottawa aimed at getting the European Union to dump the proposed ban.
...
Nova Scotia has a yearly quota of 12,000 grey seals, but hunters have rarely taken more than a few hundred annually.

Almost two years after the European Parliament drafted a resolution calling for a ban on seal products, we’ve seen the next step necessary for a European-wide ban. Today, the European Commission has announced a proposed ban on the import of seal products into European ports. Although this measure indeed signifies that the European public wants no part of Canada’s seal hunt, the existing legislation is worded in such a way that could allow seal products from this inherently cruel hunt to still find their way into markets.

The proposed ban in its current form allows exemptions from hunts which meet certain standards of “humaneness.” However, Canada’s commercial hunt, which is the largest hunt for marine mammals in the world occurs in such unpredictable conditions that it is impossible for this hunt to ever become humane. The IFAW team is just as determined as ever to take to the ice next spring to show the world that this hunt cannot be humane or regulated. Only a complete EU ban on seal products will prevent seal skins from this and other cruel hunts from entering the European Union. We hope that the Parliament will echo the wishes of the European people and insist that a total ban is passed and made into law.

Last week, we learned from Sandi in Newfoundland that several Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party of Canada were distributing these pro-seal hunt flyers to households across Atlantic Canada - including hers.  Sandi immediately recognized the numerous lies about Canada's commercial seal hunt and blogged about it. (Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Sandi, and for sending us a copy!)

Once we had recovered from the flyer's amateurish design and inaccurate information, we thought it would be fun to make up our own parody of the flyer which we are distributing in response. Even though it was the Conservative Party distributing the original flyer, we included a couple of prominent Liberals in ours, since the Liberal Party of Canada also supports the commercial seal hunt.

In fact, even though the majority of Canadian public opinion is opposed to the commercial seal hunt, every major political party in Canada supports it's continuation! The only exception is the Green Party of Canada which does not currently have any elected Members to the House of Commons.

Now, Canadian politicians have long known that promoting the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada is generally a sure-fire way to get votes during an election. Fortunately for the seals, this little flyer might have backfired.  Some newspaper editors in Newfoundland were either puzzled or even slightly annoyed by the flyer.

We wanted to let Atlantic Canadians know that if they are opposed to Canada's commercial seal hunt they are not alone. Millions of Canadians - and millions of people around the world - are opposed to this cruel, unsustainable, and unnecessary

Animal lovers and Second Lifers are being encouraged to attend a live virtual event to help end commercial seal hunting – with guest appearances by a US musician and a UK politician.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) concert on Saturday 10 May (3pm SLT & 11pm BST) will feature singer/songwriter Juel Resistance and Labour Member of Parliament for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy. Second Life's residents will have the opportunity to hear about IFAW’s campaign to help stop the cruel Canadian seal hunt. Residents will be able to view and hear video recorded by IFAW monitors during the 2008 seal hunt which began in March, interact with IFAW avatar Daisy Meadowbrook and take action in support of calls for a Europe-wide ban on seal products.

Kerry McCarthy MP, who will speak at the event, said: “I strongly support IFAW’s work to put an end to this brutal hunt. The annual killing of more than a quarter of a million seals, mostly for their fur, is simply unacceptable.

“An EU-wide ban on the trade in seal products is a vital step to help end this hunt and make sure that Europe plays no further part in this cruelty. I’m very happy to lend my voice in support of that effort.”

Second Life Residents can attend the event on Saturday May 10 at 3PM SLT (PST) by following the link below:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/IFAW%20Island/177/76/53

Those who are not already Residents of Second Life can sign up at no cost via the www.secondlife.com site.

  Europe plans massive protest against seal hunt

"Animal welfare activists will stage demonstrations across Europe tomorrow to put pressure on the European Environment Commissioner to ban the import of Canadian seal products."

Canada's seal hunt wraps up, From ABC Online

"Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans has officially closed the last and largest phase of the seal hunt off Newfoundland and Labrador. Officials say participation for this year's hunt was low, mainly because of the high price of fuel and the low price of pelts, which were selling for about half of what they were a year ago."

Ban on spiked clubs urged in Canada seal hunt, From MSNBC

"The premiers of two Canadian territories are calling for a ban on the use of the hakapik, a spiked club used by hunters to kill harp seals."

Seal activists' ship remains in custody, from the Kingston Whig-Standard

"The federal Fisheries Department still has custody of the Farley Mowat, an anti-seal hunt ship that was seized off Cape Breton earlier this month."

"Some Canadian seal hunters in Newfoundland say they aren't sure low pelt prices and high gas costs make going to sea worthwhile later this month.

"While hunting resumed Monday off New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the upcoming hunt along Newfoundland's northeastern shore isn't as appealing to seasonal fishermen, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported."

More training needed for sealers: vet, from CBC News

"New rules adopted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ensure seals are killed humanely should be accompanied by better training for sealers, says a member of the veterinary panel that looked into the issue.

"A group of nine veterinarians from Canada, the U.S. and Europe met in August 2005 to look at ways to minimize or eliminate suffering of animals during the seal hunt. One of the recommendations was a three-step process for killing, including bleeding the animal after it has been clubbed or shot."

Reader is against the seal hunt, from the Coaster

"I am asking you at take a hard look at yourselves and your leaders. Why are you allowing a barbaric act such as the clubbing to death of baby animals in the presence of their mothers to take place in your community? Babies that have not yet had a chance to take their first swim.

"It is not going to provide you with any long lasting solutions for your life long problems: for example; high unemployment, lack of training and opportunities. Rather "clubbing" your local politicians will bring about these positive changes. If politicians started to do their job, think creatively and work, it would help you to find dignifying work and repair Canada's image."

In what may prove to be some of the most violent footage of the 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt to date, the International Fund for Animal Welfare has posted this short video of two seal pups clearly in agony as they are attempted to be killed by rifle fire and in the last case a subsequent clubbing.  Please consider donating today to help IFAW end this cruel hunt once and for all.

Barbaric Blood-Letting Seal Hunt in Canada

"British reporter Danny Penman from the Daily Mail spent nearly a week in Nova Scotia, Canada, to investigate this year’s ruthless slaughter at close range as the horror unfolded.

"'The baby seal looked into the eyes of her executioner. Barely a flicker of emotion shows on the fisherman’s face as he smashes a steel-tipped club into her mouth. She lay whimpering on the ice, blood pouring from her jaw and nose.'

'But she wasn’t yet dead, so the sealer hit her in the face another 4 times before slamming a hooked “hakapik” club into her stomach and dragging her across the ice towards the ship.'"

Editorial: Canada is not so caring, from the Brantford Expositor

"The seal hunt, nearing 300,000 slaughtered babies per year for the garment industry, has increased drastically since the Conservatives took power. Most people who do this hunt are far batter off financially than many Canadian households. The hunt is not needed for the survival if the hunter. This hunt is only needed for trading purposes with Asian countries, soon to be the only countries that will allow any seal part into their lands, as we are one of the few remaining countries to allow dog and cat furs into our homes."

Mourners gather in small town to remember sealers, from CTV

"Mourners gathered Friday as the bodies of three sealers, who perished at sea last weekend, were carried into the town hall of Cap-Aux-Meules, a small community located in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que.

"A fourth sealer is still missing and presumed dead after the victims' fishing vessel, the L'Acadien II, capsized during a rescue operation by the Canadian Coast Guard last Saturday off the coast of Cape Breton."

Three Dutch members of parliament and dozens of school children participated in IFAW's campaign for a European ban on Seal products on 1 April 2008 in The Hague, The Netherlands.  The parliamentary members from the liberal, social, and social democratic parties demonstrated their support by climbing up a ladder to place puzzle pieces in the form of European  countries on a large billboard map, symbolizing the European countries that currently  do not have a ban on seal products.  The children cheered and waved European flags in the air as each member took on the brave task of climbing the ladder to the top.

On Monday the IFAW team continued to document Canada's commercial seal hunt off the east coast of Cape Breton. We saw four boats; two medium size boats and two small skiffs, along with the Coast Guard vessel. The boats were moving through the ice pans searching for the young pups.  Although this is my seventh year documenting Canada's commercial seal hunt, one can never be completely prepared for the cruelty that we witness. We documented sealers both shooting seals from their boats and clubbing them on the ice.

I saw animals being shot from boats and injured; these young seals were not killed quickly or humanely like the Canadian government claims they are. One animal was crawling around on the ice bleeding for over a minute before the boat arrived and a sealer jumped down onto the ice pan to kill it with a club.  It never ceases to amaze me that sealers see a seal crawling around on the ice suffering, yet they don't act quickly and shoot the animal again to put it out of it's misery.

IFAW documents the seal hunt for a few days a year and we can only be filming one boat at time. Yet every year we see animals being shot or clubbed and left to suffer. We see animals hooked and skinned alive, as we did yesterday. The most striking image from yesterday's footage involved a seal that was injured and then hooked in the face and dragged back to the boat. We were moving between boats and came across a sealer on the ice with what appeared to be a dead seal. He started writing in the snow with a bloody finger; the message was "F@ck Off".

As we were circling to get a better shot of his message to us, the seal that was on the ice behind him, tried to sit up! This was clearly not swimming reflex, this animal was still conscious. The sealer did not respond by taking action to quickly kill the seal as required by the Marine Mammal Regulations, instead he hooked it in the face and then proceeded to drag the animal across the ice and onto the boat, still alive. What we document out here is unacceptable and the world needs to see what only a few people have the ability to view in person. IFAW is here to document the hunt so that the world can see that this hunt is inherently cruel and is not monitored or enforced like the government claims. 

Although the hunt in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence is coming to a close, IFAW will stay on another day or so to try to document as long as we can. The weather was bad today so we could not fly, but we will try again on Wednesday. We are here so that the world can see what really happens during the world's largest marine mammal hunt.

Stop the Seal Hunt

"Have just been doing a bit of research on the Canadian seal hunt (yes, I know - a fun way to spend a Saturday night!). For some good info, see here: www.stopthesealhunt.com"

Also found this IFAW press release, which tells us that in Canada seals are classed as fish, rather than as sentient marine mammals that can experience pain, fear and suffering - which I thought was interesting (not to mention highly convenient!)"

Canadian Seal Killers Said to be Breaking New Law, Critter News

"Well, that didn't take long. The Canadian government's new requirement that hunted seals be actually dead before they skin them is already being ignored."

Ice Blocking Canada's Seal Hunt, Blue Marble Blog (Mother Jones)

"Good news. Thick ice is slowing sealing boats from reaching the baby harp seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reports Planet Ark. Consequently, only three pups out of a quota of 275,000 were killed the first day. This after last year's "hunt" was affected by a lack of ice. The Canadian government has promised the slaughter will be more humane this year. How? After a hunter shoots or clubs a seal, he now must check its eyes to ensure it is dead, and if not, the animal's main arteries must be cut.

"Okay, let's get clear about this. That does not qualify as humane."

Harp seal hunt is barbaric, travel writer Ian Middleton

"I am absolutely disgusted by the cruelty of Canada’s commercial baby harp seal hunt. As you are aware over the next few weeks, more than a quarter of a million seals will be killed for unnecessary fur products. Nearly all of these seals will be less than three months old. Many will suffer painful and lingering deaths. This is unacceptable cruelty and the UK and Europe’s role in the trade in seal products is allowing this to happen."

Brussels mulls action on “inhumane” Canadian seal killings

"The European Union is contemplating action against the alleged culling of young seals by Canada, the spokeswoman for Stavros Dimas, European environmental commissioner told journalists last week."

Canadians to fight proposed EU sealing ban, the Montreal Gazette

"A Canadian lobby group that includes Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik will be in London Monday to begin a week-long bid to fight against a threatened European Union seal hunt ban."

Sealers 'breaking humane law,'' the New Zealand Herald

"Animal rights activists have claimed that sealers were not totally complying with a new rule designed to make their hunt more humane on the ice off the Gulf of St Lawrence.

...

"'We've just filmed four seals being killed and not a single one was bled out before moving it,' said Sheryl Fink, a hunt observer with IFAW."

In photos: 'Canada Seal Hunt,' Monsters and Critics

"Photo released 30 March 2008 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) showing a hunter as he clubs a harp seal pup on the opening day of Canada's 2008 commercial seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 28 March 2008 . This seal was struck by the hunter and wounded before it escaped into the water. This is known as seal that has been struck and lost."

Survey: Should Canada End the Seal Hunt?, Treehugger

"That great Canadian tradition, the seal hunt, has started; 325,000 will die in the next few weeks. Many are against it; the Prime Minister says Canada was victim of an "international propaganda campaign," and insisted the cull would be carried out humanely."

CTV Montreal also has a poll.  You can take their poll via this link: http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/news/polls&id=983.

Thanks for your support!

Hunters go in for the kill

"A day’s work begins on the ice as a hunter slowly, deliberately raises his evil, spiked club.

"Seconds later, it crashes down on the skull of a seal pup  as the latest sickening slaughter started yesterday.

"The defenceless victim was the first of 275,000 pups, most of them under three months old. 

"They are due to die in a frenzy of bloodletting off eastern Canada over the next few weeks in the largest massacre of marine mammals in the world."

Seal hunt causes annual controversy, from the Montreal Gazette

"Britain's Press Association, the country's respected national wire service, said the federal government has been particularly reluctant this year to give out permits allowing international observers and journalists to go on sealing boats. A fisheries and oceans official told the Press Association that Canada's doesn't intend on running a travel agency for the observers and journalists."

Welcome to Canada!, from Pravda

"As opposition to this barbaric practice, which sullies the international image of Canada, grows both inside the country and in the international community, a number of nations are putting their money where their mouth is, introducing legislation to ban seal products. Among these nations this year are Germany, Italy and Austria, which join the U.S.A, Mexico, Croatia, Belgium, The Netherlands and Slovenia, which already have bans on importing seal products.

"The European Union is considering a ban on seal products, in addition to the ban on white seal pelts introduced in 1983. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is “looking into” the inhumane practice of killing baby seals and will deliver his report later this year. However, to date EU legislation is half-hearted: while the number of seals authorised to be slaughtered rises from 270.000 to 275.000, the European Union recommends that the animals are dead before they are skinned."

Please consider donating to the International Fund for Animal Welfare's hunt monitoring teams to purchase equipment, fuel and fund research efforts that allow us to make the legal case that this hunt must end. 

As far as we are aware, there have been no plans on behalf of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans to suspend the hunt.

WARNING: This Video contains graphic images of seal hunting.

In this video, the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Research Scientist Sheryl Fink talks about this opening day footage of the 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt.

Sealing begins in St. Lawrence

"The seal hunt opened yesterday with activists and journalists complaining they were prevented from witnessing the action because of foot-dragging by officials.

"...Yesterday, federal fisheries officials waited half a day before issuing observer permits to activists and journalists, handing them out after noon, when the weather made flying in helicopters almost impossible.

"One group of activists with the International Fund for Animal Welfare managed to fly out to film some scenes of the hunt's opening day. But journalists from several major international and European news organizations, and representatives of the Humane Society of the United States, were unable to make it to the ice floes."

Seal slaughter 'censored by Canada', from The Press Association (UK)

"Canada's annual commercial seal hunt has got under way amid claims animal welfare groups and media were being prevented from monitoring the killing.

"The Canadian government has set a quota allowing hunters to shoot and club to death 275,000 seals, and has said new regulations will make the hunt more humane.

"But the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said representatives waiting for permits to monitor what was happening on the ice had been told that none would be issued until the hunt had started.

"Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans had also refused to hand out permits to members of the media until the hunt was under way, Ifaw said."

Activists dispute new rules make seal hunt humane, from CTV News

"The International Fund for Animal Welfare said Thursday that a new regulation that requires hunters to bleed seals before skinning them 'makes no real changes to the way seals can be killed.'

"Under new federal regulations, hunters will be required to sever the arteries under each flipper, thereby ensuring the animals are dead before being skinned.

"But Sheryl Fink, a senior IFAW researcher, said the new regulations call only for 'bleeding to be conducted at some point.'

"'Now that I have seen the actual text of the new condition of licence, I'm left speechless by its inadequacy,' Fink said in a release."

“We will use every avenue we can within the law to keep people as far away from the hunt as we can.” Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, before the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.  October, 2006.

And so they did. Today was the opening day of the commercial harp seal hunt here in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and even though we had long ago filled out our observation licence applications, gone through the personal interviews, and paid our licence fees, the seal hunt was opened with not a single observer licence issued.

We decided to head out anyway.

Without an observation licence in hand, our ability to observe the hunt would be severely hampered, but someone had to get out there.  The fixed wing took off first; we would try to find the sealing boats in the Gulf, which is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

At about 7h30 am, we spotted the Coast Guard icebreaker off the tip of Cape Breton, clearing the way for about a dozen or so sealing boats. We sent the coordinates to the helicopter, which was on its way with the high-definition camera.  With this technology, we can see what is happening down on the ice, while keeping enough distance from the hunt that we don’t need the (still not-issued) observation licence. 

And boy, what did they see.  As the boats snaked their way through the ice behind the Coast Guard spewing black smoke into the air, sealers were jumping onto the ice pans and chasing down seals with their hakapiks. Unsteady on the slippery ice, they awkwardly tried multiple times to strike seals, often missing the animal completely in their haste.  One sealer hit  a pup near the edge of the ice pan, where it slipped – injured - into the water. He tried to grab its hind flippers but was unable to haul it back onto the ice. Another seal “struck and lost”.

I was not surprised to see that not a single sealer bled the seal out on the ice – a requirement introduced by the Department of Fisheries this year. Of course, the wording of the new condition of licence says this must only be done “where possible”. 

Personally I couldn’t see any reason why the step of bleeding the seal out would not have been possible: the pan of ice was sufficiently large, there were no concerns for sealer safety…  and yet bleeding out to ensure death was not done, showing us that nothing has changed in Canada’s commercial seal hunt. Sealers still show blatant disregard for the rules, and seals are still killed inhumanely.

As of 5 pm tonight, we still have not been issued observer licences for tomorrow.  The DFO says it is because they don’t know how many boats are out there. Well I can tell you there are at least 17, I saw them myself today.  We all know the “official” reason is nothing more than a smokescreen: once again, DFO is “using every avenue within the law” to keep us away.from the hunt.  But I saw more than enough today, enough to be reminded that this hunt is inherently inhumane, and enough to know that all of us must keep up our work to bring an end to it.

More to come...

Well, as a Canadian who lives in Europe, I find this proposition a bit mystifying.

After all, don’t Europeans, Canadians and Americans all share a common cultural heritage that says that causing injury to another creature in such a way that is cruel is morally objectionable? In fact, I think you’d be hard-pressed, whether in Europe or North America, to find anybody who could watch a three-month-old infant seal shot or clubbed and left to slowly die in a pool of its own blood and not be sickened. It’s no surprise, then, that more than seven out of ten people in Europe and also in Canada are opposed to the hunt. In fact, I know many Newfoundlanders who loudly protest the hunt.

The differences between the Canadian seal hunt, a commercial hunt motivated purely by profit and the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world, and other types of culls are obvious. The Canadian hunt takes place over a huge area, in a harsh and unstable environment, and over a short period of time. Sealers have two choices: to stay ship-bound and try to shoot the tiny seals from moving vessels while the seals bob in the ocean on ice floes, or else to slip and slide their way across the ever-shifting ice to club the seals to death. Both of these options mean that the likelihood that the seals are actually dead before they are skinned is extremely small.

I agree that fishermen in Newfoundland face an unhappy situation. Over decades, they’ve seen their cod stocks decline to almost zero. Of course, most people agree that this is almost certainly because year on year, they and other fishermen ignored warnings from the scientific community and over-fished their stocks. Now, they increasingly turn to killing seals to supplement their incomes.

Follow this trajectory into the future and what do we see? Species after species killed to extinction in order to satisfy the short-term economic needs of fishermen. What’s next after the seals? Polar bears?

It’s time for the Canadian Government to stop it’s short-sighted policy of “buying off” the provinces with subsidies that support unsustainable industries and take a meaningful, rational approach to investment that will benefit the environment and Canada’s rural communities for decades to come.

-A Canadian in Europe

Longtime International Fund for Animal Welfare Supporter D'arcy Callahan speaks about his 21 years of involvement with IFAW.

In my role for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) I'm not usually able to get out into the field for actual campaign activities with animals. However on Monday I and my coworker Ed Butler received an offer to go out onto the ice and visit with the maturing harp seal pups on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

After discovering the joys of getting into the emblematic orange "Mustang" suits...Ed and I acclimated quickly to our first helicopter ride...our pilot Martin was both very professional and genuinely concerned that everyone on board was comfortable and enjoying the experience...once we spotted beater seal pups...the ride became a surreal landing into the scene I had only witnessed in video and still photographs...and I don't know that I was truly prepared for the beauty, but perhaps more importantly the reality that these creatures could be violently attacked for profit within the coming hours...

Once on the ice, Ed, the other passengers and I worked to both be respectful of the seals space...while trying to get as close as possible...we looked a bit like seals ourselves as we slid quietly toward a pair of beaters who were basking in the sun.  They were ultimately very patient and kind while we snapped a few photos and stared in a sort of stunned silence...contemplating our lying on the frozen ocean, working to protect these gentle and timid creatures.

More to come...

Before the IFAW team headed out to see this year’s harp seal herd in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we had a safety briefing to help orient ourselves with the helicopters that would be taking us out to see the seals.

Our pilot explained some of the very important safety precautions all of us must take when we enter and exit the machine. The flight team learned how to approach the helicopter, by staying low and always walking in front of the helicopter so the pilot can see us at all times.

Under no circumstances are we to approach the helicopter from behind. Our team leader, Cheryl Jacobson reminded us, “it’s like a horse…never walk up behind one or you’ll get kicked.” Good point – especially since a kick from a tail rotor of a helicopter would most certainly be a fatal one.

We also discussed where the safety equipment – (satellite phones, life rafts, etc.) was located and how we can access it. For most of our briefing, we watched the pilot point out important parts of the helicopter and listened to what we needed to do.

However, for one part we actually had to practice getting in and out of the helicopter as it was hovering a few feet above land. The pilot wasn’t sure if the ice in the gulf was going to be thick enough to support the weight of the machine so we had to approach the helicopter while it was hovering, open the door carefully, distribute our weight evenly and slowly as we climbed in, scoot across the back seat and exit out the other side.

Once we made it out of our hanger and into the gulf, there was plenty of ice and we were able to land safely on it. Luckily we got to see some happy beater seals too. This was my first year seeing baby seals on the ice, and watching them play just made the thought of the commercial seal hunt even more of a disgrace.